Syria hits back at global outcry over crackdown

Syria launched a media offensive to counter the outcry over its deadly crackdown on dissent, as Turkey toughened its stance against President Bashar al-Assad's government.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon meanwhile urged Assad to implement reforms while the Human Rights Council once again pleaded with Damascus to allow it to send a mission to investigate human rights violations in Syria.

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BEIRUT — A UN report on Syria said Tuesday there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that limited quantities of toxic chemicals have been used as weapons in at least four attacks in Syria’s civil war, but that more evidence is needed to determine the precise chemical agents used or who used them.

Syria has launched a media offensive to counter the outcry over its deadly crackdown on dissent, escorting journalists to a hub of the protests and staging a loyalist rally.Near the flashpoint northern town of Jisr al-Shughur, officials Wednesday showed a group of 20 journalists, including an AFP correspondent, a grave containing at least five corpses they said were security forces.The remains, which lay under a pile of rubbish, had been placed in yellow and orange body bags.

GENEVA AND LONDON — Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations secretary-general, Friday accused Bashar al-Assad of committing crimes against humanity as he said a UN report next week would provide “overwhelming” confirmation that chemical weapons had been used in Syria.

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela won coveted seats on the UN Security Council Thursday, but Turkey suffered a humbling defeat in its bid to join the world's "top table."

AMMAN, Jordan — More than 200 Syrian soldiers and opposition fighters died in the eight-day battle for a police academy near the embattled northern city of Aleppo, activists said Sunday as President Bashar Assad lashed out at the West for sending aid to those trying to oust him.
The Britain-based anti-regime group The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized control of the police academy in Khan al-Asal, west of Aleppo, after entering the sprawling government complex with tanks they captured from Assad’s troops in previous battles.

The UN General Assembly on Tuesday suspended Libya from the UN Human Rights Council over leader Moamer Kadhafi's brutal crackdown on opposition protests.The 192-member assembly passed a suspension resolution by consensus, without a vote, after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the body to "act decisively" against Kadhafi.The Human Rights Council in Geneva had called for the suspension which needed a two-thirds majority at the General Assembly to be passed.